Epitome of Convention
by Jaiden Lockheart
Summary: Getting married had never been something Sasuke Uchiha thought too hard about. One day he would find someone he loved, get married, have kids and maybe die peacefully in his very rich home in Tokyo. Now, those plans were compeletely ruined. NejiSasu.
1. Chapter 1

**Note: -throws self on ground and flails uncontrollably- I would say I didn't want to start anything new, but that would be lying. It actually took me a long time in deciding if I really wanted to write this. In the end, I chose to just go with it.**

**Pairings: NejiSasu, maybe some KibaShika later on, and maybe some NaruSasu/GaaSasu**

**Warnings: For this chapter? I think there's a little bit of swearing, but not much else. Unless you want to count the fact that the whole Uchiha family is together… -narrows eyes- probably should.**

**Epitome of Convention**

By: Jaiden Lockheart

Sasuke stared up at the tall building in front of him, noticing how the mirrored walls reflected the clear blue sky above him. The fierce wind of a march afternoon caused his hair to stir around his face, effectively obscuring his appearance from any passersby that might have normally recognized him. Not that the blue-black hair, pale skin, and lean frame weren't telltale signs of his heritage. He was just thankful no one from the company had seen him yet. But it wouldn't be long before he had people pestering him. That was what it cost, he guessed, to be part of one of the richest families in Japan.

Not that he'd really asked to be part of this family. He had just simply been lucky enough--or so some called him--to be born into it. It wasn't a bad thing, he'd conceded many times. He just wished that sometimes he could get away from it all.

And that's exactly what he'd done not four months ago.

"_Boarding School?" His mom shouted, her pretty face contorting into what could only be called disgust. "But what's wrong with the Academy?" _

'_The Academy'--as their family had come to call it--was the only school the Uchihas had ever gone to. It was run by a friend of the family and had quite possibly the best educational scores of any private school in Tokyo. _

"_There's nothing wrong with the Academy, Kaa-san." He reasoned, trying to calm her down. "I just think I would--"_

"_Oh, you just think?" His mom shook her head and pinched the bridge of her nose. "No, Sasuke, that's exactly what you're _not_ doing. Thinking."_

"_But, Kaa-san," He said, his voice rising a little, "Nii-san is away at college, you and Tou-san are always at work, and I'm stuck here doing nothing, with no one around."_

"_That's not true." Mikoto's voice was calmer now, but she was still shaking her head. "That's not true. You have your friends from school and Kara-san…"_

"_Kaa-san, the housemaid can hardly be considered real company." He said, glaring at her back as she'd turned to look out the bay window of her office. _

_She sighed heavily, crossing her arms over her chest. _

"_The answer is no, Sasuke." She said, her voice holding the sound of finality and he knew he couldn't argue with her._

_But the answer wasn't really a no. When Mikoto had told her husband about Sasuke's "crazy idea", his father actually said it was a possibility he would like to look into. _

_And so, two weeks later Sasuke found himself outside his dorm room at Umino Academy for Boys…_

…_Only to be summoned home four months after that._

He sighed, swinging his bag a little further onto his shoulder and tapping his foot. He really didn't want to be here, in front of his family's company's building, the intricate lettering of the sign outside the door mocking him with his own name. But he knew he had no choice. It's not like he could just run now and not speak to them today, then he'd be risking never speaking to them again. And while, on the one hand that sounded like an excellent consequence, on the other, that would also end with him loosing his funding.

Sasuke never said this out loud, but he depended on his family's abundance of money. He wasn't foolish enough to think that he would live as comfortably as he did now if he cut ties with his parents.

So he agreed internally that it would just be better to walk in there and get this little meeting over with. The quicker he went to talk with them, the quicker he could come back down, get in his cab, and go back to school where he belonged.

Now, if only he could get his feet to listen to his brain.

"Sasuke?"

He flipped around to see who had called his name, though the voice should have given him a clue. His brow furrowed in confusion when his eyes landed on the other. Well, this was unexpected.

"What are you doing here, Aniki?" He asked as Itachi came to join him in front of the building. Sasuke noticed then that he was still quite a bit shorter than his brother, despite how much he had grown in Itachi's absence. He had to look up to see the other man fully.

"Got a call last night, Kaa-san said it was urgent that I get back. I went to the house, but no one was there." Itachi explained. "Do you know what this is about?"

"No idea." The younger Uchiha admitted.

"Hmm."

The two stayed in silence for a few more moments, ignoring the people sending them confused looks. Eventually, Sasuke's shifting from one foot to the other pulled his older brother out of thought.

"Well, shall we?" Itachi said, his comment not really a question, and he started climbing the tall steps up to the building.

Sasuke nodded, moving to keep up with his brother. Itachi opened the glass door and held it until Sasuke followed him inside, letting his little brother take the lead from there. Once fully inside the lobby, they were greeted by a boy not much older than Sasuke with long black hair.

"Kon'nichiwa, Itachi-san, Sasuke-kun." His words were choppy, nervous and a blush spread across his cheeks while he bowed slightly.

"Kon'nichiwa, Haku-kun." Sasuke replied, recognizing the boy as a senior at the Academy. At least it wasn't another strange fangirl that was sent to meet them.

"You mother said that you'd be coming and told me to have you go on up to her office." Haku said, a small smile appearing on his feminine face, his hand came up to show them the direction of the elevators, though both Uchiha siblings knew this building like their own home.

"Arigatou, Haku-kun." Itachi said quietly and he made his way to the elevators on the opposite side of the lobby. Sasuke nodded gratefully to Haku before following his brother again.

"I don't know what she's up to, but sending one of your former classmates to greet us doesn't seem too good, Otouto." Itachi commented on their way up to their mother's floor. All the younger man could do was nod in agreement.

The elevator bell sounded when they reached the sixteenth floor of the building and the doors slid open to reveal a long hallway, at the end of which were double glass doors leading to the only office on this floor.

Sasuke was pushed out of the elevator before the doors could close again, the hand on his back never leaving the entire journey down the hall. He could feel his palms sweating, and his teeth biting into his lower lip--a nervous habit he'd picked up at school. He knew he must look ridiculous, being led down the hallway by his older brother as if he couldn't walk in a straight line by himself. He was incredibly underdressed as well, he knew that. However, before he'd actually been inside the building it hadn't seemed like that big a deal.

"She's going to torture me." He said softly, though he knew no one but Itachi could here him in the hallway.

"For what? You didn't do anything." Itachi's words were reassuring for a moment, but the ease that settled in Sasuke's limbs at the sound of his brother's voice was only present for a few short seconds.

"That means nothing, and you know it. She doesn't need a reason to torture people." Sasuke protested.

"She doesn't torture people, Sasuke. Stop whining, it's unbecoming." Itachi knocked lightly on the door when they reached it.

"Come in." The sickly-sweet voice of their mother flitted through the door and Sasuke really wished Itachi would wait for him to collect his thoughts for just a moment before opening the door.

But his wishes were never granted, it seemed.

"Ah, Itachi, Sasuke." Their mother greeted them by standing from her chair behind her desk and meeting them in the middle of the room, kissing them each on the cheek. "I was expecting you a little sooner, Sasuke. Punctuation is something they clearly don't teach at this new school of yours."

"Gomen, Kaa-san, the traffic was awful." He excused.

"Yes, well," Mikoto's smile never faded and she moved away from her sons to go back to sit behind her desk again, motioning for the two to sit as well. "You're here now, so no harm done. And I'm sure you're wondering what has happened."

Sasuke nodded, knowing his answer was needed because Itachi rarely responded to anyone.

"Well, of course I wanted it to be a surprise." Mikoto said, sifting through some of the papers on her desk but not really looking for anything in particular. She did that--Sasuke had noticed--when she was explaining things. "But unfortunately I can't get out of the office any time soon, so I'm afraid it'll have to wait until later tonight."

Wait! What?

She'd called both of them just to tell them they had to wait to hear what she wanted to tell them until later? What was that?

"So, I can't go back to school now." Sasuke stated, looking now past his mother and out her window where--thankfully--all he could see was a distant view of Tokyo. He had a slight case of acrophobia and the last thing he needed was to be picturing himself falling from the sixteenth floor of the building.

"I'm afraid not, but don't worry. I've already called the school and told them you'd be staying home for a few days." His mother reassured. He raised a delicate brow at her words.

"A few days?" Sasuke asked, not sure he liked the sound of that.

"Well, I do want you to enjoy your surprise, Sasuke. This is _mainly _for you, though the whole family will see benefits, I'm sure." She smiled at Itachi who said nothing in return.

"Right." Sasuke agreed, though he wasn't certain what he was really agreeing to.

"Well, if you aren't going to tell us, Kaa-san, what _are _we doing here?" Itachi finally spoke up, his monotone voice ringing clearly through the room.

"I wanted to see you, of course. Neither of you have been home for months, and I've missed you. Both of you." She said, but Sasuke could tell Itachi wasn't buying it.

"_And_?" The older man pressed, crossing his arms over his chest.

It took a moment for their mother to respond. At first she looked on at them innocently, as if she had no idea what Itachi was talking about. Then finally she let out an exasperated sigh and her shoulders slumped a little.

"Alright, fine, I need you two to work on a project for me." She said. "I don't have enough time to finish it and the deadline is next Tuesday."

From one of the drawers in her desk, Mikoto pulled out two items. One she placed on the desk in front of them and the other she held in her hand. Both Uchihas focused on the folder laying before them, knowing it held the contents of the project that was quickly approaching it's end.

Itachi picked it up, opening it and thumbing through some of the papers inside. He read the top one quickly before setting it in his lap.

"You want us to do an advertising project?" Itachi asked, his brow wrinkling.

"I told you I don't have time to finish it." Mikoto said. "And I trust the two of you most to get it done even when I'm not around. You have access to every room in this building unlike the employees that have time to do it."

Itachi shook his head, something that all Uchiha's seemed to do when considering just how crazy the people around them were. His jaw tensed for a moment in thought and Sasuke could only stare at him in amazement. He wasn't actually considering doing this, was he?

The two of them had other obligations. They didn't have time to waste on a silly advertising job for their mom's department.

Something else was put on the table in front of them that pulled Sasuke's attention back to the room. He stared wide-eyed at it for a moment before fully comprehending what he was seeing.

It was the company camera.

"You're going to let us use it?" Sasuke asked, his mood rising considerably.

"If you agree to do the project, yes." Mikoto replied. Now there was an interesting twist.

Sasuke had been trying to get his mom to let him borrow the camera for a very long time now, each time getting shot down because "he had his own camera and it worked just as well". But his didn't work just as well, and his mom knew it. She was just too reluctant to let the camera be in use for something that wasn't work related.

"Nice bribe." Itachi commented as Sasuke reached for the camera, turning the sleek black device over in his hand and turning it on. Sasuke sent him a glare, though it wasn't too harmful as he'd picked up the expression from the very person at which it was directed.

Sasuke smiled fondly down at the camera, peering at the small digital screen as he pointed it toward his own jeans. He clicked it back off a moment later to place it carefully in his bag.

"I'm on it." Sasuke said, ignoring Itachi as the older sibling shook his head once more.



It was close to eight o'clock that evening when Sasuke got a call over the intercom in his room saying that he was needed downstairs. He had forgotten how much he'd loved his bedroom at the Uchiha estate, the large room somewhat of a sanctuary to him. When he'd gotten home from his mother's office he'd come straight to his room to drop off his things and call his roommate at school. Naruto had said that he'd already been informed that he was taking a small vacation and told him to consider himself lucky. Sasuke had said the same thing back to Naruto and had gone on to remind him of the horrors of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, horrors that Naruto hadn't argued with.

Since then he'd been lying on his king-sized bed in the middle of his room playing with the camera he'd be getting to use for a few days. The white down comforter felt familiar against his skin and he relaxed easily into the routine that he'd left when he'd gone off to school four months ago.

So it didn't really come as a surprise when Kara's voice sounded from the little box near his door telling him his mother was waiting for him.

"Arigatou, Kara-san." Sasuke said, standing up from his bed and setting the camera down on his nightstand.

"Oh, and your mother said for you to wear something appropriate for the guests." Kara said, leaving then with a click on the other end of the intercom.

Sasuke's brow wrinkled in confusion. Wear something appropriate for the guests? What did that mean? What was going on? He knew he should have just run when he had the chance earlier.

He quickly changed out of his clothes, his loose jeans falling to the floor next to his black t-shirt. He walked to his closet at the other end of the room, opening the door and walking inside. He pulled the small chain hanging from the light and looked around.

Though not as large as his actual bedroom, Sasuke's closet was bigger than his dorm room at his school. It was filled to the ceiling with the clothes he'd collected over the years, and he knew most teenage girls would envy him if they ever got the chance to see the extent of his wardrobe. The thought made him chuckle, an image of one of the girls that went to the Academy coming over to steal his clothing popping into his head. He'd never shared his clothes with anyone, save occasionally with Itachi when the older man insisted that they hadn't been a gift and would need to give them back.

He chose a simple black button-down and black slacks. The shirt fit snuggly at his small waist, clinging to his curved abdomen, and the pants hung loosely from his thin hips, falling past his feet and dragging the ground. He would have to wear shoes with a heel to keep himself from tripping, which he found a moment later. He replaced the ring in his lip with a small stud, and took some of the more eccentric rings from his ears, pulling his hair down around his face to cover the gauges in his lobes.

Turning the light off on his way out, he noticed he'd taken a little too long getting ready and hoped the guests hadn't arrived yet. Sasuke's tendency to be later than she expected was one of his mother's biggest annoyances, but she would not tolerate him being anything less than punctual when it involved guests.

He made his way quickly to the stairs at the end of his hall, taking them two at a time down to the first level. The steps ended in an elaborate dining hall--of which the Uchiha family was immensely proud--and he walked to the side door to enter the formal living room. Right where he expected them, his family was waiting there, seated in various furniture around the room. His mother stood when her gaze landed on him.

"Oh, Sasuke, you look wonderful. You really do clean up nicely, you know. Now if only I could get you to wear things like this more often." Mikoto commented, wrapping her arms around her son in an embrace before pulling back to look at him again.

Sasuke just nodded, not really wanted to say anything that would keep this conversation going.

He was saved the embarrassment by the ringing of the doorbell. Sasuke breathed a sigh of relief, though that was short lived when he realized that whomever was at the door was probably the 'guests' for his surprise.

"Oh, they're here." Mikoto said, motioning for the rest of her family to follow her into the large foyer where Kara was opening the door.

"You're going to love him." Sasuke wondered exactly what his mother meant by those words.

"Hyuuga-san!" Fugaku said as two people made their way into his home. One was an older man, who Sasuke imagined was who his father had addressed, the other was a younger man, though clearly related to the first.

"Konbanwa, Uchiha-san." The older man said, bowing slightly. He was tall, taller than all of the Uchiha's, as was his companion. The two men had very long hair of a dark hue and the palest eyes Sasuke had ever seen. He shivered as a pair of those eyes were turned on him.

He stared back at the man, the younger of the two. The gaze made him feel uneasy, as if those unnaturally pale eyes could see right through them. He missed the smirk that appeared on the young man's face when he turned away though, looking to his brother for some sort of explanation. Itachi just shrugged.

"Well, it is very nice to see you both. Neji-kun, I think you've grown even taller than the last time I saw you." Fugaku said, taking the younger's hand in his and shaking it quickly.

"Oh, I doubt that." The man Sasuke guessed must be named Neji said, returning his father's smile with one of his own.

"Why don't we take this into the living room." Mikoto suggested, coming to stand behind Sasuke and turning him around. She guided him back into the living room, turning back to make sure everyone was following her. "We have some introductions to attend to, I think."

"Oh, yes." Sasuke heard the older stranger say from behind him. When everyone had made it back into the formal room, Sasuke tried to sit down on one of the armchairs, but his mother prevented him from doing so. He wanted so much to glare at her right now.

"Sasuke, you can't sit just yet. There's someone I want you to meet." She said and steered him back to the middle of the room.

He was met once more with Neji's eerie gaze. Though this time he was determined to not look away. He stared back defiantly.

He didn't know why, but he instantly decided he didn't like the other man. Neji seemed stuck up, like some of the people that went to the Academy from some of the richer families in Tokyo. Those had been people he'd never really gotten along with, thinking them fake and overall annoying.

"Neji-kun, this is my son, Sasuke." Mikoto said, her smile apparent in her tone. She was feeling smug, Sasuke could tell.

"Konbanwa, Sasuke-kun." Neji said politely, but Sasuke knew that the other was having similar thoughts about Sasuke as Sasuke had been having about him.

"Konbanwa." Sasuke replied. Even if he wasn't too fond of the person he was speaking to, he was also always polite.

"Sasuke, this is Neji Hyuuga." His mother said, her voice seeming to grow even more fond. "He's your fiancé."

**Note: Alright, I went over and over in my head about this pairing. Really, I think with the family circumstances and things Neji is the best person to pair Sasuke with in this story. Because who doesn't love two genius rich boys fighting non-stop until they realize that they actually love each other? I know I love it! And I know Sasuke's mom seems a bit… psycho. But don't worry, she's still lovable Mikoto Uchiha, she's just now business Mikoto Uchiha. And I don't normally like using Japanese in my stories, save for a few honorifics here and there, but the language seemed to fit more in this story than it does with my others, so we'll see how that goes. It's pretty basic right now, if anyone has questions though, go ahead and ask and I'll put some translations up. **

**Well, leave me some feedback.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Note: Yay! Second chapter! Yay! More moody Sasuke! Oh, and I threw in a little moody Neji too. Well, okay, he's not so moody as he is in pain. So we can forgive him. I hope you all enjoy.**

**Pairings: NejiSasu… eventually.**

**Warning: Some language, but nothing really.**

**Epitome of Convention**

By: Jaiden Lockheart

As Neji walked through the halls of the Hyuuga Estate, he decided that he hated the world. He hated the white paint on the walls throughout his house, he hated the person who had decided white was a good color for them, he hated the sun coming in through the windows, he hated the drapes that would never seem to stay closed when he asked specifically to have them drawn only in the late evening when the sun wouldn't fade the expensive maroon carpet. Oh, and he hated the maroon carpet as well, because, honestly, the color was vile.

So, it was with that less-than-pleasant mood that he walked into the large kitchen and sat down on one of the uncomfortable wooden stools at the bar. He was instantly swarmed by dozens of questions. 'Was he feeling alright?' 'Did he need something?' 'What was it that had woken him so early in the morning?'

He waved the servants off with a small flick of his wrist, not even really acknowledging any of them. He simply laid his head down on the black marble counter and closed his eyes.

The truth was a headache had been what had woken him. The pain had been enough to pull him from his dreams and had effectively settled right at the base of his skull, where he could feel his spine practically throbbing, shooting blinding arms of pain up and into his brain. Sunlight that had managed to filter through the crack in his navy drapes had shown in his eyes, and instead of just rolling over and burying his face in his pillows like normal, he had been unable to return to unconsciousness. That fact--along with the quickly worsening pain in his head--had been what prompted his sour mood and he'd decided that he would never return to sleep before getting some kind of pain killer in his body.

The only problem with that was he had taken a wrong turn at the end of his hall and instead of making his way to his oversized bathroom, he had simply walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. How he had managed to get turned in the wrong direction inside his own house--which he had lived in his whole life--he couldn't say, but now he was regretting not turning around on the stairs and going straight back to bed.

But the cool marble felt good on his temple, and he focused solely on the smooth surface long enough to calm the spasms in his brain so he could at least _think. _

"Neji-kun?"

God, his head hurt. But through the pain he was able to decipher that the voice speaking to him now was not one he felt a compelling need to ignore. He winced as one of his pale eyes slid open, revealing a face close to his own, yet turned in an odd angle.

"Hinata?" He said quietly, blinking a few times to get rid of the lights that flashed behind his eyes. "Why are you upside down?"

"You're laying on the counter." The girl answered just as softly, her delicate brows knitting together in worry.

"Oh. Right." He lifted his head off the counter as carefully as ever, almost whimpering at the loss of the cool surface.

"Is everything alright?" Hinata asked and now that she was at the right position he was able to focus more clearly on her. He still had to squint against the bright lights of the kitchen however.

"Yeah, everything's fine." He replied, waving her question off with his hand, regretting the action instantly as it made the entire room spin around him. He grabbed a hold of the countertop to steady himself again.

"That bad, huh?" She said, chuckling slightly. Neji had the sudden urge to reach over and wrap his hands around her skinny neck for laughing when he was clearly in too much pain to get the joke, but he thought better of it. Lunging forward would definitely not result in any form of satisfaction whatsoever.

"It hurts to think, Hinata." He grumbled, still able to be angry with himself for sounding so childish.

"Would you like some water, or something?" She asked and all thoughts of harming her vanished.

"Only if I'm downing eighteen different pain killers with it." He said, a small smile gracing his features at the mention of pills.

"I don't know how much my father would like it if you ended up dead from overdosing. Laying sprawled across his counter no less." She commented but stood from her spot opposite him anyway, disappearing quickly out the door of the kitchen.

Neji wasn't even aware she was really gone until she came back a few moments later, a tall glass of water in one hand and two large white pills in the other. She held them out for him to take and watched silently as he lifted the glass to his mouth.

"Thank you." He whispered when he'd swallowed the medication and let the glass come to rest where his head had once occupied the counter.

"No problem." She shrugged going back to sit on her stool across from him.

He set his elbow down next to his cup, letting his head rest in his palm and closing his eyes once more. He just had to get through fifteen more minutes of agony before the aspirin would kick in. Just fifteen more minutes.

"So, how'd it go last night." Hinata finally asked after a few moments of silence.

"What are you talking about?" He questioned, because, really, he had no idea what she had meant. But the memories came back to him quickly, when he was able to sift through the pain to find them. "Oh, you mean the meeting… thing."

Another thing he hated about headaches, they made him dumb.

"Yeah." She said. "I heard Otou-san talking about it earlier. He said it could have been handled better."

"Handled _better_?" He asked, opening his eyes fully to look at her skeptically. "It wasn't handled at all until we showed up last night. I thought the kid was going to die of a heart attack right in front of me."

"So he could have handled it better." Hinata corrected.

Neji sighed. "I have no patience for children."

"He can't be that young."

"He's not much older than you. Maybe by a few months."

"Oh… wow…"

"Yeah."

"The poor guy."

Neji almost laughed. Poor Sasuke? Was he not a victim in this whole situation. No one had seemed to think so last night, when they were all tending to a badly-behaved teenager throwing a tantrum because something went wrong in his perfect little life.

"I don't know why everyone pities him so much." He commented instead.

"It's not so much pity as it is sympathy." Hinata said, crossing her arms on the counter and laying her head across her thin wrists.

"Same thing." Neji said, rubbing at his temples in an attempt to relieve some of the pressure that was building up there.

"It's not." Hinata argued, her tone sounding almost offended. "I'm just trying to think how I would feel in his situation. I mean, only being sixteen and knowing that you're not even going to make it into adulthood before you're tied to another person. He's not even out of high school yet, is he?"

"I don't know. I didn't really stay and chat with him." Neji said, satisfied as his head started becoming more fuzzy than pain-ridden. "He threw his fit and then ran upstairs to his room. He wouldn't come out, and the only person he let in was his older brother. I wasn't about to stay longer than necessary and when it was obvious we weren't going to get anywhere, I left."

"Well, that seems rather insensitive of you." Hinata said, pouting slightly. "You could have at least tried to speak with him about it. It's not like you aren't going through some similar emotions about this whole thing."

"I was the last person he wanted to speak with last night, Hinata." Neji remarked, stretching a little when he felt a yawn coming on. "Besides, we barely know each other. We weren't really thinking about how much in common we have."

"Hmm, I guess." She said, standing from her stool again. "Well, I'm sure you'll have plenty of time to talk later."

"Where are you going?" He asked curiously.

"I'm going to take a shower." She answered. "You want me to tell Otou-san that you're going to stay in bed today because you don't feel well?"

"At least until ten. Wake me up before we have to go to lunch, though." He said, standing as well and following her out of the kitchen.

"Will do." She said, moving in the direction of the stairs and stopping right before she started climbing them. "Oh, and Neji-kun?"

"Hmm?" He said, a little annoyed with her excessive talking, but trying to be subtle about his irritation.

"Do try and understand where he's coming from, will you? I know he's not the only one upset about it, but he probably reacted the way he did yesterday because he's afraid." She said, her eyes searching his for a moment.

"Afraid of me?" He asked.

"Afraid of getting married to a man he doesn't know." She clarified. "Marriage really isn't an easy concept to understand when you've only lived for sixteen years, let alone marriage to a man you've only met once in your life."

She did have a point, he had to admit, but he didn't answer her verbally. She took his silence as contemplation on his part and continued ascending the stairs to the second level. He followed right behind her, turning into his hallway when she turned into her bathroom.

He wouldn't admit to her that her words made a lot of sense, and he surely wouldn't admit to her that he'd thought about them for as long as it took him to fall asleep when he laid back down.

But the thoughts followed him into unconsciousness, making themselves present in his brain for some further consideration in his dreams.



"So, that's it? You don't have any say in this whatsoever?" Naruto's voice filtered in through the earpiece of Sasuke's cell as the brunette laid across the bed in his room.

"That's it." Sasuke confirmed, throwing his arm over his chest and crossing his legs in the air. "And I never have a say in anything that happens to me here."

"It's just so… archaic." Naruto said and Sasuke could hear him shifting on his bed in their dorm room back at school. "But then, I didn't even think same-sex marriage was legal yet."

"Oh, it's legal and apparently thriving." Sasuke rolled his eyes in annoyance. "So, not only do I have to get married to someone I don't even know, but I'm marrying a guy."

"Do you like guys?" Naruto asked and the brunette realized that he had never had this conversation with Naruto.

"I don't know." He scratched his neck uncomfortably, searching his brain for what he knew he wouldn't find there easily. "I've never _really _thought about it before."

"Well, you're going to have to think about it now, huh?" Sasuke could hear the blonde chuckling a little to himself and he fought the urge to smack the palm of his hand to his forehead.

"That's beside the point." He argued. "What's important is that, though it's legal now, not all people look at it in a… positive light."

"And when has anyone ever looked at you or your family in a positive light anyway?" Naruto said. "I don't see why this is any different or why you care so much."

"If you hadn't noticed, I have been trying to make a name for _myself _that doesn't have Uchiha tagged to the end of it." Sasuke said, moving to lay on his stomach with his head on his pillow, laying his phone on his cheek so he could put his hand down.

"Well, depending on which of you is the more submissive, you may not have to worry about your name containing Uchiha much longer." The blonde broke out into laughter after finishing his sentence.

"You know what I mean." Sasuke all but growled at his friend.

"Yeah." Naruto sobered some before speaking again. "How old is this guy, anyway?"

"I don't know," the brunette thought for a moment, "he didn't seem too much older than me, but I don't think he's in high school still."

"Hmm." Naruto said. "Well, at least we know who will be top in your relationship."

"I'm hanging up now, really, I am." Sasuke threatened, reaching up to grab his phone again.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Sorry." The brunette put his hand back down again and chuckled slightly. "God, you're touchy."

"Comes with being an Uchiha." Sasuke shrugged.

"Well, you can work on that while you're there. I've got to go though, class starts in fifteen." Naruto said.

"Why didn't you just let me hang up before then?" Sasuke's brow creased in confusion.

"Didn't want to leave on a bad note, Darling." Naruto practically sang into the phone.

"Well, why don't I just marry you then?" Sasuke suggested.

"You couldn't handle me and you know it." Naruto laughed.

"That's for sure, I can barely handle you at school. I can't even imagine having to spend the rest of my life with you." Sasuke countered.

"Now, that's uncalled for." Naruto said.

"Bye, Naruto." Sasuke hung up the phone before the blonde could whine any more and flipped over to lay on his back.

He let his eyes fall closed for a moment, enjoying the feeling of the sun shining in through the windows. He'd left the drapes drawn last night to be sure he'd wake up early this morning. Today just didn't feel like one where he wanted to stay indoors, he wanted to be productive. That's the way he was though. When he was angry, he liked to keep busy, work off some of his frustrations.

It had been nice to talk to Naruto again as the blonde had quickly wormed his way into Sasuke's life, taking up seemingly permanent residence and calling himself the Uchiha's best friend. Sasuke couldn't really argue with that, he'd been stuck with the other boy as a roommate when he first got to school. He guessed Naruto must have figured he couldn't stay silent _all _the time. And after a few failed attempts at conversation, Naruto finally gotten Sasuke to talk to him through method of blackmail--Sasuke would always remember the look of sheer glee in Naruto's eyes when he'd found Sasuke's journal in the bottom drawer of their computer desk.

And though it wasn't the best start to a friendship, one was developing very quickly and before the two boys had known anything was happening, they found themselves in each other's company more often than not.

The brunette was pulled from his thoughts abruptly by the sound of someone knocking on his door. He turned to see his older brother standing in the doorway looking in at him with an amused smirk across his lips.

"Are you done being loud?" Itachi asked, walking further into the room and closing the door behind him.

"I'm sorry, did I wake you?" Sasuke apologized quickly, wincing slightly and scooting over to allow the older Uchiha room to sit beside him on the edge of the bed.

"I forgive you. The rest of the city however," Itachi sat down, leaning his weight on one of his hands, "they may be a little more difficult to convince."

"Very funny." Sasuke responded, rolling his eyes.

"Talking to Naruto?" His brother asked, looking down at him curiously.

"Could you hear his big mouth all the way in your room?"

"More like I could hear _your _big mouth all the way in my room."

"Shut up, your room's not too far away from here."

"All the more reason for you to be _quiet _from now on, Otouto."

Sasuke scoffed at those words, placing his hands under his head and looking up at the ceiling for a moment before turning back to his brother.

"What do you want this early, anyway?" He asked, trying to sound annoyed but failing miserably.

"Well, it is a Thursday morning, meaning plenty of people rushing to get to work. I was just wondering if you wanted to take advantage of this time to catch up with city life." Itachi shrugged.

"I was thinking more along the lines of never going near the city ever again. The last time we went, we got stuck doing an advertising project for our lovely conniving mother." Sasuke reminded the older Uchiha.

"Okay, Mr. I-make-grabby-hands-at-a-camera-that-doesn't-belong-to-me." Was all the Itachi had to say to Sasuke's words.

"Hey, it's a good camera." Sasuke argued.

"Then get up and use it."

"I don't want to do anything for that woman. Ever."

Itachi sighed, closing his eyes a moment to keep himself from getting frustrated. "Listen, Otouto, I realize you're not on the greatest of terms with Kaa-san at the moment, but we agreed to do this for her and I'm not doing all the work myself."

"So don't," Sasuke said, shifting a little to sit up, "Say you're not going to do the project either."

"And what do you think that will accomplish, Sasuke? Aside from making me look unreliable?" Itachi asked.

"It would make me feel better. At least I'd win at something." Sasuke's arms crossed over his chest.

"Win at what? Immaturity?" The older Uchiha looked at his brother skeptically then. He watched as Sasuke's form became less stiff, until the younger boy had loosened completely and slumped in defeat.

"I don't want her to have the satisfaction of knowing she ruined my life." Sasuke explained.

"Then don't let her keep you from using that camera. You know if you tell her you're not going to do the job, she'll want it back. Push her schemes aside for awhile and use the damn thing. You've been waiting forever." Itachi said, a brow raising in uncharacteristic enthusiasm.

Sasuke's skull made a loud thud when it hit the headboard behind him and he let his brother's words sink in a little. Knowing that this was something he'd been waiting to do for a long time and if he didn't go out and make good use of that camera now, he probably wouldn't have another chance to without buying one on his own. And that may be awhile, seeing as his trust fund was being used for school right now.

"Okay, fine, I'll go." Sasuke said. "But we have to stop by Ami's for coffee first."

"It's on the way to the train station." Itachi commented, standing up from Sasuke's bed. "I'll meet you downstairs in half-an-hour."

Sasuke watched his brother leave his room. He had wanted to do something productive today.

What better way to do that than take an amazing picture for the best advertisement Uchiha Inc. had ever seen?



Eleven o'clock saw the two Uchiha brothers outside a small café in Tokyo where they had agreed to stop for coffee. Ami's Café had been a very small part of the city for well over twelve years now, the owner, Takashi, having bought the lot when he was just out of business school and in need of quick money to advance in his career. It had been named after Takashi's daughter, Ami, when the little girl had been diagnosed with leukemia. She had only lived for another few weeks after the opening of the café and Takashi had never had the heart to shut it down, even after he had made a sufficient amount of money to expand. And Ami's had been one of Sasuke's favorite haunts since he was in Junior High School.

He would always remember the day he had come across the small restaurant one rainy Monday afternoon. He had been seeking shelter from the down-poor and Ami's had been the only thing around him open and not a corporate building. He had come in, had a cup of black French Roast coffee, read out of one of the poetry books on the shelf, and fallen in love with the little establishment almost instantly.

So the younger Uchiha dragged as many people as he could convince to Ami's for coffee as often as he could. And he never missed a chance to bring his older brother with him on mornings the two spent together.

"Ah, Sasuke, it's been awhile." Tenten, one of the girls that has worked at Ami's, said as Sasuke came up to the counter to order.

"Yeah, I've been at school." He replied, shrugging and looking up at the menu above the counter.

"Oh yeah, I heard you were at Umino's now." The girl said, leaning against the counter and eyeing him pointedly. "The Academy not good enough for you?"

"How'd you know I was at Umino's?" He asked, generally confused. He only talked to Tenten when he came in here, sure he considered her a friend--the two of them had had their fair share idea exchanges--but he didn't remember mentioning the fact that he was changing schools.

"Word travels fast about you Uchiha's." She explained. "That, and Haku stops in every once in a while now."

"Oh." Sasuke said, remembering the first time he'd brought the older boy here after working on a project.

"So, what are you having today?" Tenten asked, noticing that a line was forming behind her friend.

"I don't know, I'm in a sweet mood this morning." He commented, his eyes traversing the menu again.

"White Chocolate Mocha with Raspberry?" She suggested.

"Yeah." He nodded, moving aside for his older brother.

"Black tea, half the sugar." Itachi ordered quietly, handing Tenten money and telling her to keep the change as a tip.

"I'll talk to you later." Sasuke said when his brother pushed him further down the counter to pick up their drinks and allow the other costumers to order.

Once the two brothers had their drinks in hand, they made their way to one of the small tables near the back of the café and sat across from each other. They sipped quietly for a few moments, falling into easy conversation, not talking about anything of real importance. On more than one occasion, Sasuke pulled the camera from his tot bag. But it only stayed visible for a few seconds at a time as Itachi would only glare back at him when he tried to take a picture.

"I'm not the subject of the advertisement, Sasuke. You can wait until we get to the train station to take your pictures." Itachi was saying for the fourth time that morning. Sasuke only chuckled, but agreed that he wouldn't bring the camera back out again in the café.

Putting the camera back in his bag, he missed seeing the next person to walk into the shop.

"Well, if it isn't the elusive Mr. Hyuuga."

But he didn't miss Tenten saying that too familiar name.

His head shot up in time to see Neji walking up to the counter, leaning on it causally and smiling at Tenten before speaking.

"Been a long time, 'ten. I'm surprised you haven't forgotten me." His voice seemed to grate against Sasuke's eardrums and he could only think to describe it as annoying.

"Forget about you? I could never." It was clear the girl was flirting with him and Sasuke wondered how anyone would want to do such a thing.

His discomfort had peeked Itachi's curiosity at once and the older Uchiha turned to see who had made Sasuke so tense. When he spotted the young man behind him, he chuckled and rose a brow at Sasuke pointedly.

"What?" Sasuke said when he noticed his brother's look.

"You can't just ignore him."

"Watch me."

"If Kaa-san gets wind of this, she's never going to leave you alone about it."

"So we'll just have to make sure she doesn't find out about it then, huh?"

Itachi just shook his head, going back to sipping his tea and trying to ignore the glare Sasuke was shooting to his fiancé.

Neji didn't seem to notice them, he was focused solely on his conversation with Tenten while he looked over the menu.

"So, what have you been up to lately?" The girl asked curiously.

"Nothing too interesting, actually." Neji responded and Sasuke felt his blood boil.

Nothing too interesting? The man had just gotten engaged and he was acting as if it was something he did everyday. Maybe it was something he did everyday, Sasuke didn't know. Sasuke knew nothing about this guy. Except now he knew Neji had visited Ami's before, and more than once considering how easily he was chatting with Tenten. But he wasn't telling Tenten about what was probably the biggest news in his life right now. He treated the engagement like nothing.

Well, that was fine. Sasuke could raise enough of a fuss about it himself. Let Neji act like he didn't care about the whole thing.

"I'm going to get this engagement broken up, I swear I am." Sasuke said to no one in particular.

But Itachi had heard and all the older man did was shake his head in disbelief.

**Note: I absolutely love the image of Itachi sitting at a café with Sasuke and sipping tea. It made me giggle the whole time I was writing this last little excerpt. And what's going to happen with Neji and Sasuke now that they've met up once again. Even I don't know yet, though I have my ideas. I'm really starting to like this story and I think it's got some real potential. What kind of sex is angry sex with someone you want to hate? Aside from morning sex? Nothing!**

**Sorry, I'm in a giddy mood and I had to get some of the energy out somewhere.**

**Send me some feedback.**

**Love you all,**

**-Jaide**


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